OHL Eyes Mexico Spinoff

Spanish builder Obrascon Huarte Lain is preparing a listing of its Mexico assets, a deal which would give Mexico’s market the large IPO it has been awaiting for years. OHL is analyzing the possibility, and says it has not made a firm decision to go ahead. It has hired Credit Suisse, Santander, BBVA and UBS for a sale, according to market sources, and should make a decision to go or not in the next few days, with an eye on a deal before the end of November. There is no indication of how much of its Mexican operation OHL would float, but market sources expect a deal of $500m-$1bn equivalent. OHL is an active road builder and concessionaire throughout LatAm. In Mexico, it is building the Bicentenario elevated Mexico City toll road, Libramiento Norte de Puebla road, and latter phases of the Circuito Exterior Mexiquense road, and owns 100% of each, according to OHL. It also operates the Circuito Exterior Mexiquense Phase I road, Carretera Amozoc-Perote road and Toluca International Ariport, of which it owns 87%, 55% and 33%, respectively.